Rail anchor



June 26, 1928.

S. W. FAIRWEATH ER RAIL ANCHOR Qriginal Filed Oct. 7, 1926 Patented June 26, 1928.

STARR W. FAIRWEATHER, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO V. IRVING. SMART, OF MONTREAL, CANADA, AND HIMSELF.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed October 7. 1926, Serial No. 140,112, and in Canada September 16, 1926. Renewed Decem- 1 her 1, 1927.

My invention relates particularly to rail anchors of the class adapted to transmit its lead to the side of a tie and be locked to the rail by the tendency of the latter to creep.

Herctofore almost all of the rail anchors in common use have acted on the base of the rail with the result that the creeping impulse of the wheel, being confined to the head of the rail, produces a leverage which stretches the hold the anchor has on the base of the rail to such an extentthat even minimum return travel causes the anchor to loosen and be ineffective. The object of my invention is to overcome this defect and increase the holding power of rail anchor-s of this type and at the same time eliminate separate locking parts which are disadvantageously affected by variations of temperature; and a further object is to adapt the anchor to be locked against displacement by reverse pressure as for instance by traflic over the rails in a reverse direction from that which the anchor is primarily intended to prevent.

The invention may be said briefly to consist of an angular anchor adapted to engage one edge of the rail base close to the tie and present a strut constructed and arranged to grip between the ball of the rail and the base, and its tendency due to the creeping movement of the rail being to increase the gi-Epping effect. The reverse movement of .thc railv is obstructed by a pair of jaws formed integrally therewith and adapted to engage the rail flange and extending below the level of the bottom of the rail for engagement with the tie. The anchor is obliquely arranged relatively to the transverse vertical plane of the rail, thus presenting a shoulder or fulcrum which produces the turning movement tending to increase the effectiveness of the engagement and holding of the rail by the strut. The anchor is held in place by a lip on the end of the bottom jaw, such lip engaging the opposite edge of the rail flange and] serving as a means for tying the anchor to the rail. Another feature of the invention is the angular form of the anchor presenting a strut of greater length than the space between the underside of the rail head and the top of the rail flange in transverse vertical plane, the space between the sides of the angle being less than the body of the rail engaged thereby for the purpose of causing the anchor to grip the rail by its inherent resilience. The ends of the anchor when set in place are sprung apart and when in effective position engage at one end the fillet joining the web to the head of the rail and the other end engages the opposite edge of the rail. Another feature of the invention is the construction of the strut with its transverse middle portion widened and reduced in thickness to increase its resilience. the invention is the particular construction of the lower aw of the anchor in the form of a straight bar of triangular cross section with its apex extending downwardly to cut its way into the ballast. Another feature of the invention is the construction of the anchor from a single length of spring steel and of angular form which must be sprung to a wider angle when drlven into place.

'Another feature of the invention is the construction of the anchor to present a'base locking member anda spring web bearing member, the latter bearing initially on the web and when driven home sliding up the web into engagement with the fillet. An-

other feature of the invention is the spring eflect produced by the form of the vertex of the angle of the anchor presenting an openz'ng greater than the thickness of the edge of the rail flange it'engages. This spring arrangement and the particular construction of the strut enables the anchor'to be so formed that when held in position engaging the rail before being driven home the strut will bear at its top against the web of the rail and at its bottom upon the top of the ra l flange while the opposite end of the anchor lies in contact with the bottom of the rail. When the anchor is driven home this form is changed and the lipon the bottom jaw of the anchor is made to engage the edge of the rail. flange and simultaneously the strut is jammed with its upper end engaging the fillet connecting the web of the rail to the fishing angle of the head and the bottom of the strut bites into the top of the rail flange, the strut being sprung.

For full comprehension, however, of my invention reference must be had to the ac- Another feature of i companying drawings in which similar refa rail with my anchor held in position ready 3 and 6.

' to be driven toplace engaging the rail andtowards the direction from which the roll locking it against creeping;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the anchor in the position shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 Figure 1 and drawn to a larger scale;

. Figure 4; is a similar view to Figure 1 with the anchor driven to engaging positions;

Figure 5 is an end elevation thereof;

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken on line 66 Figure 4 and drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view on line -77 Figure 5 of the upper end of my anchorin position engaging the fillet joining the head to the web of a rail which is also shown in transverse sectional view; and

Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of my anchors.

As before mentioned my improved anchor is made in one piece from spring steel shaped to angular form, one side 7) of the angle being of strut form and of a length appreciably greater than the distance between the underside of the rail head C and the flanged of the rail,the middle portion of this strut being flattened as at e for the purpose of imparting a measure of resilience to the strut as is further enlarged upon hereinafter. The lower end of this strut is extended in substantially semicircular form as at f topresent rigid jaws f and f ac-' commodating the edge of the rail flange between them, such jaws being in relative oblique arrangement as shown in Figures The anchor is extended in the form of a straight bar 2' of isosceles triangular cross section having a shallow hook G at its opposite end which is substantially equal in depth to the edge of the rail flange. This bar 2' is the other leg of the angle, the anchor being as before mentioned of angular form and the bar 2' with the curve 7 and hook G may be termed a rail-flange lock. The distance between the engaging face G of the hook and the top of the strut Z) is less than the distance between the edge of the rail flange engaged thereby,'and thepoint at whichthe top of the strut engages the underside of the rail head. This is illustrated clearly in Figures 1 and 4 where it can be seen that the relative distances are diflerent, the distance on the anchor before being sprung to placebeing less in actual measurement than the distance between the points 58 and G engaged on the rail. The

head of the anchor actually bears on the .fillet 58 and the adjacent portion of the fishing stock approaches. The lower edge 50 on that side of the upper engages the upper side of the rail flange and the inside edge 51 of the upper end of the strut bears against the web near the fishing angle, and the top of the hook or lip G at the end of the flange-locking barbears onthe bottom of the rail. lVith the anchor so canted the upper corner (52) of the lip G bears upon the underside of the rail. The anchor is then driven on, it being of course held in place. A single blow drives it home. As it moves, the jaws being resiliently fixed, the inner corner of the edge 50 rides up the inclined uppersurface of the flange of the rail and in doing so the anchor turns and tends to assume vertical position. The strut first turns on the inner cornerof this edge 50, and as it progresses up the inclined rail flange turns on the complete edge 50 thus causing the upper inner face of the strut to move in a curved path concentric with the edge 50 until its length is jammedwith its top engaging the fillet between the web and the rail head and the bottom of'the strut engaging the top of the flange. The relatively stiff resilience of the anchor (which means not only the strut but also the jaws and the flange locking bar) permits the lower portion of the strut to reach a point further in towards the web than it otherwise would, and this resilience augments the holding power of the anchor. Simultaneously-as the anchor progresses to place, the edge 56, Figure 6, of the flangelocking bar moves transversely across the underside of the railuntil the hook or lip G snaps up into engagement with the face of the adjacent edge of the rail flange. The

anchor is then home; having been driven to place with one'blow of a sledge hammer, and it is held firmly in place and the rail locked against movement irrespective of the maximum variations in temperatureby the relatively stiff resilience of the anchor. The load on the anchor is taken on whichever side may be subjected to it. .The load is absorbed initiallyby the bar i and is transmitted through the jaws to the strut which being jammed in an oblique position, any tendency on the part of the bar 71 to move'tends to turn the. strut to a vertical position and consequently locks the anchor more tightly in place. The function of the hook or lip Gisto hold the jaws against lateral displacement. The strut is subjected to torsional and transverse strains and. because of its straight structure it offers maxi mum resistance to torsional strains, and be cause of its increased width at the middle the moment of inertia'is increased in the direction of the transverse strain. Furthermore the tendency of the strut to turn on the edge 50, because of the inclined face of masses the flange engaged thereby, both tensile and bending stresses are set up in the bar 6 which being shaped in triangular section and of relatively greater depth than width, is adapted to effectively resist any such stresses. iVhen my anchor is subjected to forces in the reverse direction, the gripping of the corners 50 and 56 (Figure 6) increases the gripping power of these corners and thus maintains the hold of the anchor on the rail. It is known that the pounding of the anchors on the ballast is one of the chief causes of breakage of the anchors. This cause is practically eliminated by the deep triangular shape of the bar 11 of my anchor.

The anchor is fool proof because it is not possible to set it in place ineliectively, though it should be set with its strut arranged obliquely away from the tie against which the bard bears.

Another advantage of the particular form of the anchor is due to the factthat the three points 52, 50 and 58 are not in line, and when driven to place is locked by the fact that it is a sprung lever. This is because the distance between the points 50 and 52 relatively to the thickness of the flange is such that when the anchor is driven to place the strut 50, 58 as projected obliquely is slightly longer than the distance between the points it must finally reach at the base of the head and top of the flange. The effect is that the strut is sprung when the anchor is driven to place.

What I claim is as follows:

' 1. A one piece spring-steel anchor of angular form, adapted to be positioned in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of a rail, one side of said anchor comprising a rail base locking memher and the other side of the anchor presenting a strut of greater length than the space between the underside of the rail head and the top of the rail flange in transverse vertical plane, the space between the sides of the angle being less than the body of the rail engaged thereby for the purpose of causing the anchor to grip the rail by its inherent resilience.

2. A rail anchor such as claimed in claim 1 the strut of which has its top constructed and arranged to engage the web, the fillet and the contiguous portion of the fishing angle of the rail head.

3. A rail anchor such as claimed in claim 1 the strut of which is widened and reduced in thickness at the middle of its length for the purpose set forth.

4. A rail anchor consisting of a single piece of spring steel one end of which consists of a strut of greater length than the space between the underside of the rail head and top of the rail flange, a pair of rigid jaws accommodating one edge of the rail flange the upper jaw merging in the strut,

and the lower jaw merging in a straight bar engaging the underside of the rail with a lip engaging the opposite side of the rail flange.

5. A spring-steel rail anchor of angular form the opposite ends of which engage re spectively one edge of the rail flange and the fillet at the opposite side of the rail and joining the web to the head of the rail, the sides of the anchor being normally spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of the portion of the rail engaged thereby for the purpose of causing the anchor to be sprung into place.

'6. A rail anchor consisting of a single length of spring steel in angular form, one side of the angle consisting of a straight bar of isosceles triangular cross-section with its base upwards and having an upwardly projecting hoolcforming lip at the top of its free end, the other side of the angular anchor presenting a strut of substantially square cross-section with flat middle portion of extended width, the sides of the angular anchor being connected together by a pair of rigid jaws the upper jaw merging in the bottom of the strut and the upper side of the lower jaw merging in the straight bar.

7. A rail anchor consisting of a single length oi spring steel of angular form presenting a strut having one end bearing against the fillet joining the web to the head of the rail and at its opposite end on the top of the rail flange, and a pair of rigid jaws at the vertex of the angle of the anchor for engaging the rail flange at that side of the rail, the anchor being adapted to be positioned in an oblique plane relatively to the vertical transverse section of the rail.

8. A rail anchor consisting of a base locking member and a spring web-bearing memher, the lower end of which has an edge adapted to bite into the top of the rail base.

9. A rail anchor consisting of a base-locking member and a spring web-bearing member, united by a pair of jaws both of which engage the rail flange, the upper jaw engaging the top of the flange and the lower jaw the bottom of the flange, the opening be tween the jaws being greater than the thickness of the edge of the rail flange it engages.

1-0. A rail anchor consisting of a. baselocking member and a spring web-bearing member, united by a pair of rigid jaws both of which engage the rail flange, the upper jaw engaging the top of the flange and the lower aw the bottom of the flange, the opening between the jaws being greater than the thickness of the edge of the rail flange it engages.

11. A rail anchor such as claimed in claim 1 and inclined in a direction reverse to the dirpction of the creeping tendency of the nu 12. A rail anchor, adapted to be positioned in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of a rail, comprising a pair of rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one side edge of the rail base, the upper jaw'extending upwardly in the form of a strut of greater measurement than the vertical distance between the base and ball of the rail at the point of engagement and bearing respectivelyiagainst the top of the rail flange and the fillet uniting the web to the head of the rail; and the lower jaw presenting an abutment extending downwardly for engagement with theside of the tie; and means for fastening the anchor to the rail, the anchor being inclined in a direction reverse to the direction of the creep ing tendency of the rail.

13. A resilient rail anchor comprising a pair of rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one sideedge of the rail base, theupper jaw extending upwardly in the form of a strut of greater measurement than the vertical distance betweenthe base and ball of the rail on atransverse vertical plane and the lower jawextending across the bottom of and beneath the rail and having an upwardly projecting lip at its end for engagement with the side of the rail; the anchor including the strut and jaws being aligned in an oblique plane, and being inclined in a direction reverse to the direction of the creeping tendency of the rail.

14:. A rail anchor comprising a pair of rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one side edge of the rail base, the upper jaw extending obliquely upwardly in the form of an arm presenting a strut of greater measurement than the vertical distance between the base and ball of the rail at the point of engagement;. and the lower jaw presenting an abutment extending downwardly for engagement. with the side of the tie; and means for fastening the anchor to therail, the anchor being inclined in adirection reverse to the direction of the creep ing tendency of the rail.

15. A rail anchor comprisinga pairof rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one side edge of the rail base, the upper jaw extending obliquely upwardly in the form of an arm presenting a strut of greater measurement than the distance between the base and ball of the rail at the points of engagement; and the-lower jaw presenting an abutment extending downwardly for engagement with the side of the tie; the said oblique armpresenting a shoulder to serve as a fulcrum upon which the anchor turns under the creeping movement of the rail, the anchor being inclined in a direction reverse to the direction of the creeping tendency of the rail; and means for fastening the anchor to the rail.

16. A resilient rail anchor comprising a pair of rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one side edge of the rail base, the upper jaw extending upwardly in the form of a strut of greater measurement than the vertical distance between the base and ball of the rail in a transverse vertical plane; and the lower jaw extending across the bottom of and beneath the rail and having an upwardly projecting lip at. its end forengagement with the side of the flange; the anchor including the strut and jaws being aligned in an oblique plane, inclined in a direction reverse to the direction of the creeping tendency of the rail.

17. A rail anchor comprising a pair of rigid relatively fixed jaws for engaging one side edge of the rail base, the upper jaw-extending obliquely upwardly in the form of an arm presenting a strutof greater measurement than the vertical distance between the base and ball of the rail at the point of engagement; and the lower jaw presenting an abutment extending downwardlyifor engagement with the side of the tie; the said oblique arm presenting a shoulder to serve as a fulcrum upon which the anchortturns under the creeping movement of the rail; and means for fastening the anchor to the rail; the said fastening means consisting of an extension of the lower jaw having at its end a lip adapted to engage the opposite side edge of the rail base, the anchor being inclined in a direction reverse to the direction of the creeping tendency of the rail.

18. A rail anchor comprising a locking base member, the upper face of which provides transverse gripping edges; said member being integral with an intermediate provides rail-flange gripplng edges; a strut, of greater length than the depth of the web of the rail to which the anchor is to be applied, formed integral with said clamping j aw and the free end of said strut'adapted to be retained inresilient engagement under the head of said rail by said elamping'portion. 19. A rail anchorconsisting of a clamping portion; a strut integral with the upper of said portion; alocking base member integral with the lower jaw-of said portion; said portion, said member and the said strut being normally in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of the rail and the resiliency of said portion retaintacting face of said strut;

clamping portion, the upper jaw of which 7 proximate right angle to the rail head con- 21. A reversible rail anchor, either side of which is adapted to engage a tie, consisting of a locking base member; a strut, of greater length than the depth of the rail web; an integral clamping portion intermediate said member and said strut; each tie contacting face of said base member being at an ap proximate right angle to its co-acting rail head contacting face of said strut.

22. A rail anchor consisting of a locking base member; a strut, of greater length than the depth of the rail web; an integral clamping portion intermediate said member and said strut; said struthaving its central portion flattened out in alignment with the rail web to prevent buckling oi said strut while under strain.

23. A rail anchor consisting of a single piece of spring steel in angular form having upper and lower rail-flange gripping edges and an integral strut engaging with the rail fillet to retain said edges in gripping position.

24. A rail anchor, adapted to be positioned in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of a rail, consisting of a single piece of spring steel in angular form, having upper and lower rail-flange gripping edges and an integral strut engaging with the rail fillet to retain said edges in gripping'position and a means for locking said anchor to the rail-flange.

25. A reversible railanchor consisting of a single piece of spring steel in angular form; the base portion of said piece being of isosceles triangular cross-section with its base upwards; said base portion providing alternative under-flange gripping edges and tie contacting faces,'which edges and faces extend approximately the full width under the rail base and an integral clamping member carrying a rail fillet engagement strut of greater length than the depth of the rail Web.

26. A reversible rail anchor, either side of which is adapted to engage a tie consisting of a single piece of spring steel in angular form comprised of a locking base portion, a strut of greater length than the depth of the rail web and an intermediate integral clamping portion, part of which is reduced in size to provide a greater resiliency between said base portion and said strut.

27 A rail anchor consisting of a locking base member, a strut and an integral clamping portion intermediate said member and said strut; said anchor being adapted for placement in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of a rail while the tie contacting face of said base member is in vertical alignment relatively thereto.

28. A reversible anchor consisting of a single piece of metal so formed as to be adapted for engagement in oblique arrangement relative to the vertical transverse section of a rail and having alternative tie contacting faces adapted for engagement in approximate vertical position.

29. A rail anchor of spring steel material consisting of a base member a strut and an integral clamping portion intermediate thereof; said, strut being flattened out in alignment with the rail Web to permit said strut to bend toward said rail web to provide resilient engagement of said strut with the rail fillet.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

STARR YV. FAIRWEATHER. 

